The Biden administration is considering offering Iran sanctions relief as America seeks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
President Joe Biden fired the starting gun on re-entering the deal, known as the joint comprehensive plan of action late last week with a statement declaring that America is willing to sit down for an “informal meeting” with the Iranians, which would be hosted by the EU and also attended by Britain, Russia and China.
The Iranians have demanded relief from crippling Trump-era sanctions — which they claim have cost them more than $US150bn ($191bn) — as a price for returning to negotiations.
There are indications that sanctions relief is on the way, though the Biden administration insists it wants a sit-down first. “Sanctions relief is definitely coming,” said one well-placed national security source. “Not today or tomorrow. But it is coming.”
On Saturday AEDT, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, did not rule out the possibility of relief but emphasised “there is no plan to take additional steps” ahead of a “diplomatic conversation” with Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran said on Sunday that it had held “fruitful discussions” with visiting International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi.
Negotiating with Iran and lifting America’s economic chokehold would mark the Biden administration’s most decisive break yet with Trump-era foreign policy. It would steer America back to the path it was on during the Obama years, when it sought to reshape Middle Eastern politics by negotiating with Iran despite the objections of its regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Read the article by Josh Glancy in The Australian (from The Sunday Times).